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Description:
The auction of copies of the first edition of "Time Was in Mineral Wells..." by A. F. Weaver, held at the "Little Rock Schoolhouse." This picture shows the auctioneer, the Reverend Mr. Bobby Moore, with the autographed Copy Number 1. Author A.F. Weaver looks on in the background.

Description:
The auction of first edition of "TIME WAS in Mineral Wells..." The men in picture were: (left to right) the Reverend Mr. Bobby Moore, auctioneer; Art Weaver, author; H. Arthur Zappe, DDS, Mayor of Mineral Wells; and Frost Bowman, Banker. The Reverend Mr. Moore was pastor of the First Baptist Church at the time. Mr. Weaver was a photographer, and the first president of the Mineral Wells Heritage Association. Dr. Zappe was a dentist, and Mr. Bowman was a Director of Mineral Wells Heritage Association.

Description:
The dust cover of "TIME WAS In Mineral Wells... 1975 Edition," considered the first pictorial history of the city, is illustrated here. The book is the product of A.F. Weaver, whose collection of photographs comprises the "A. F. Weaver Collection."

Description:
A home, apparently of Neo-classical style, located at 516 NE 3rd Avenue. This home was built in 1909 by J. S. Murphy. It was owned in 1976 by Kenneth and Mary Brewer. This negative was part of a collection of photographs take by A. F. Weaver, and was found in an envelope marked "Homes, Tour of, 4/76" The following names were listed: "McFall, Brewer, Catrett, John Moore, Hull, McLaughlin."

Description:
This concrete-block house, of Queen Anne style, free classic subtype, parapeted gable, was built in 1904 by Robert Wylie, rancher, at 416 NW 6th Street. This view is of the front, southern elevation of the house. There are 10 room and 8 fireplaces (all coal-burning), each one unique, and believed to have been imported. There are many stained- and leaded-glass windows. The house was purchased in 1917 by the attorney of Mrs. Wylie, Judge W.H. Gross. The Gross family lived there until Mrs. Gross' death in 1952. Subsequent owners were the Luther Waddy family, and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Catrett in 2006. Another view of it is in "Time Was...", by A. F. Weaver, on page 141. This negative was part of a collection of photographs taken by A. F. Weaver, and was found in an envelope marked "Homes, Tour of, 4/76" The following names were listed: "McFall, Brewer, Catrett, John Moore, Hull, McLaughlin."

Description:
This picture illustrates the McFall home, three miles west of the city of Mineral Wells. It was opened in 1927 as the Indian Creek Brazos Valley School. It saw use as a community center, and as a polling place from 1946 to 1970. The McFall's purchased it and converted it into a residence. This negative was part of a collection of photos take by A. F. Weaver and was found in an envelope marked "Homes, Tour of, 4/76" The following names were listed: "McFall, Brewer, Catrett, John Moore, Hull, McLaughlin."

Description:
The Cunningham House (502 NW 23rd Street, Mineral Wells, Texas) was built in the 1930's. It is in Italian Renaissance style, and it shows evidence of later remodeling. It later became the home of E.B. Ritchie, Palo Pinto County Judge from 1904 to 1908. Judge Ritchie was the first of four generations (son George M., grandson John P., great grandson Richard P.) of attorneys and civic Leaders in Palo Pinto County. This negative was part of a collection of photographs take by A. F. Weaver and was found in an envelope marked "Homes, Tour of, 4/76" The following names were listed: "McFall, Brewer, Catrett, John Moore, Hull, McLaughlin."

Description:
George and Daurice O'Neil purchased the depot,and their son Don helped with the restoration. It is now [2008] used as office rental. Elliot & Waldron Title Company and Gault, Attorney-at-Law, are leasing space there. The building is listed on the National registry in Washington [D.C.] and it sports a Texas Historical Marker. It is featured in "Time Once Was in Mineral Wells" on page 190.

Description:
A Major J. D. Beardsley (1837-1911)--a Canadian who fought for the Union in the Civil war--built an electric trolley line that ran from North Oak, south to the train depot, west to Pecan Street (NW 4th Avenue), south on Pecan Street, to the ridge in the Lowe Place Addition, west to Pollard Creek, where Mr. Beardsley laid out Elmhurst Park (q.v.). A cross-line on Hubbard street ran east to Elmwood Cemetery. By the end of 1906, Beardsley owned sixteen cars, running on approximately ten miles of tracks. It was reported that an interurban line to run to Millsap, Weatherford, and thence to Fort Worth was planned. In fact, speculation had been made that an interurban trolley system had been Major Beardsley's ambition right from the start. The route for this interurban was laid out by Major Beardsley. A man named Gid R.Turner proposed a rival line. A Weatherford newspaper of 1906 reported that an interurban line from Mineral Wells to Fort Worth was gleefully endorsed. If the interurban was not built from Weatherford, then it was asserted that it would go through Springtown, instead. A person from Mineral Wells had pledged $1,000 of the $50,000 required. Confused reports by 1907 had been made that the two enterprises were being merged, but Major Beardsley denied the report. (In August 1907, Turner was required by Weatherford to tell his intentions. He made no answer.) Neither line was ever built, perhaps due to the Panic of 1907, because by December of 1907, the Beardsley enterprise was declared "Dead.". Portions of the tracks were removed near the water wells dug by Mr. Ed Dismuke (q.v., in the description field.), by a syndicate of Beardsley's creditors, including D. T. Bomar, (who bought the railway and assorted properties at auction for $75,000) and Morgan Jones in ...

Description:
This picture shows the Mineral Wells Electric System Trolley Car Number 23. The Mineral Wells Electric System operated from 1902 (?) to 1913. The picture appears to have been taken in the 1400 block of W. Hubbard Street, where the street car unloaded passengers for a short hike north to Lake Pinto. The street car reversed here, and traveled across town to Elmwood Cemetery--around NE 17th Avenue. The trolley system was the brainchild of a Major Beardsley (who was not only not a Texan, but fought for the Union side in the Civil War), who apparently planned an interurban line. A proposed line, which would have gone from Mineral Wells, to Millsap, to Peaster, to Weatherford and thence to Fort Worth was actually begun, but it ended mysteriously. The Weatherford papers report that enthusiasm for such an interurban was still great in 1912 but investment money was lacking. The Panic of 1907 (never mentioned by the papers) may have a contributing factor in the drama. In any event, the advent of the motorcar would have been a serious challenge to any interurban trolley line.

Description:
The Mineral Wells Electric System (apparently a brainchild of a Major Beardsley, who started the whole operation) ran two trolleys from 1907 to 1913. Their tracks are shown here being laid along Hubbard Street, at the corner of Oak Avenue and looking east in about 1906. The electric street cars ran (1) on Hubbard Street from Northeast 17th Avenue to Southwest 6th Avenue; and (2) on Oak Street (now Northwest 2nd Avenue) from Northeast 17th Street to Southeast 11th Street, thence to Elmhurst Park. Pollard creek was dammed up to form a lake around which a casino, dance pavilion, race track for horses, and playground were built. Elmhurst Park, as it was called, was abandoned when the trolley ceased operations in 1913. The panic of 1907 (along with a great conflagration in Mineral Wells whose losses were estimated at about $100,000) apparently brought ruination to Mr. Beardsley's dream of an interurban trolley line to Weatherford and thence to Ft. Worth. Numerous lawsuits were subsequently brought against him and his trustee, lawsuits which continued beyond his death in 1911. It remains a mystery [in 2017] why the rival line planned by a Git Turner of Weatherford was not built, either

Description:
Illustrated here are 20 unidentified men (some in uniform) and 1 unidentified woman standing in front of an unidentified building. Four of the men have removed their hats. The prevalence of uniforms suggests either the military or the police. The high boots worn by two of the men (and the hats that some of the have), the dress of the woman all suggest an early 1930's date for the photograph. The occasion that brought them to that place is not known. The photograph taken by Young's Studio of Mineral Wells, Texas.

Description:
This picture shows two unidentified men and a woman. The photograph is believed to have been taken during construction of the road up Wynn Mountain east of Palo Pinto (prior to construction of the Bankhead Highway, which was built following passage of "Good Roads Act" in 1916.)

Description:
Two men are here seen sitting on a bench at Inspiration Point. The photograph is believed to have been taken about the year 1920. The bluffs above the Brazos River are visible in the background. The man at the far left has been identified as Bealer Beard, at one time an owner of a construction company in Mineral wells.

Description:
This picture appears to show two stores that stand cheek-by-jowl. A saddlery on the far left shares space with a furniture storethat also sold cofins. The sign over the stores combines their functions in a way that would--under other circumstances--seem comical. The building itself was located at the corner of SE 1st, and South Oak Streets. A note on the photograph states that it was south of the MARTIN BUILDING. It was once the McBrayer-Armstrong Grocery, then later the Nash Hardware store. The location of Lattner eventually became the Buy-Rite store [116 South Oak Avenue, at the corner of SE 1st Street, until some time in the early 1980's]. The road is unpaved, there is no evidence of lighting--except for the lamp mounted on a post at the front of the building. The horse-drawn hearse (without its horse or plumes) suggests that although it was in front of the stores, it was not at the time in use. The picture, therefore, dates from the end of the 19th century--or the earliest 20th century.

Description:
Two unknown young ladies are shown posing in a wheelbarrow in Wylie Park, located in the 100 block of NE 2nd Street (for the same photograph, please see page 115 of "Time Was", second edition). Wylie Park seems to have been a project of the local ladies' garden Club, who developed various empty areas around town into garden plots. The first Catholic church on the side of West Mountain appears to be barely visible in the far distance, indicating that the photograph has been taken looking to the west. The photograph unfortunately bears no date.

Description:
Two women (one using an umbrella as a parasol) are pictured strolling in Wylie Park. Notes on back of the photograph read: "Corner of N. Oak and N.E. 1st Street, the West side of Wylie Park, a popular place for strolling." North Oak Avenue is in background, with North to the right in the picture. Hazelwood Drugs is on the west side of Oak Ave, opposite the park. Mineral Wells. The streets of Mineral Wells were paved in the summer of 1914. A wagon can be seen traveling north on Oak Avenue. What appears to be a work crew may be seen at the corner indicates that the finishing touches may have been in the process of being applied to the paving as the picture was taken.

Description:
The Tygrett Hotel, built as a Room-and-Board Hotel about 1910, is still [2008] located at 415 NW 4th Street. The house is named "Silk Stocking Row" at this time [2008], and is currently Mineral Wells' only Bed and Breakfast Inn. The house is Queen Anne style, free classic sub-type. Note the unusual two-story wrap-around porch and the the polygonal tower. The Palladian windows and classic columns are characteristic of this sub-type. A. F. Weaver reminisces that he learned how to play the piano at this house. This photograph appears on page 105 of the "Time Was"..., Second Edition.

Description:
The only information available about this photograph is solely the legend on it, identifying it as the U.S.O. Club of Mineral Wells, Texas. Further details in regard to this club would be welcome.

Description:
Since the mineral water that was needed for commercial purposes did not flow in convenient springs, it was necessary to pump it out of the ground by way of wells. The wells were abandoned when the fad for the water evaporated. For example, what remains of this water well (only its head) is at the North West corner of NW 9th Street and NW 3rd Avenue, Mineral Wells, Texas.

Description:
The "Una McLaughlin" home is located on NW 23rd Street. This photograph was taken in July, 1975. Built in 1927 by J.C. Cunningham, an oil operator, the home was sold in 1931 to Judge E.B. Ritchie. It was purchased in 1973 by Una McLaughlin. It has since changed hands several times. It is presently [2014] vacant. The tile in the living room fireplace is the same as used in the Baker Hotel. The tile, stained glass in the breakfast room, and the light fixtures are in the Art Deco style. The architectural style of the house is Italian Renaissance. It shows signs of being remodeled.

Description:
A large house (or possibly a hotel) is shown here. The original photograph is not in good condition. A black man (in shirtsleeves) may be seen on the first floor, next to a seated black lady. Two black(?) men, more formally dressed, stand on the second floor. There is no indication of the identity of the building. The presumed street in the front does not appear to be paved.

Description:
This picture depicts men unloading grain from box cars at the Mineral Wells railroad yards into horse-drawn wagons. During the days if the Great Depression years of the 1930's, grain and cotton were the principal cash crops of farmers around Mineral Wells, and the WMW&NW (Weatherford, Mineral Wells and Northwest) Railroad was a prime shipper of the crops to market. This photograph is featured on page 92 of A.F. Weaver's "Time Was in Mineral Wells," second edition.

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